Without a trace
Fishermen’s disappearance over a week ago reflects ongoing risk in Jamaica’s coastal workers
Published:Sunday | July 6, 2025 | 12:13 AMCorey Robinson - Senior Staff Reporter
Dozens of fishermen are lost at sea each year, and in most cases they are ushered home quickly by local marine security. In other instances, much like the case of three fishermen who have been missing at sea for more than a week, they are not so lucky.
Veteran fisherman Lestin Duncan, 71; his son, Lestin Duncan Jr; and his nephew, Kamerly Nelson, 24, went missing two Fridays ago after leaving the banks of the Marine Police Divisional Headquarters in Kingston. Sea and air searches by the security forces, extending all the way to Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine, have come up empty.
Nonetheless, Lestin’s daughter, Simone Duffus, last week shunned thoughts of the worst, and hoped that her relative had washed up in another country, awaiting help from local authorities to get home. That is her only resort, she said. Otherwise, six young children and several relatives will be left without their fathers, and breadwinners.
“I believe there is a possibility they will come home. Other persons have gone missing and end up being found. So I am hanging on to the possibility,” said Duffus, noting that this was Nelson’s first voyage after repeatedly asking.
Another of Duncan’s children has been integral in the security force’s search for his father. He was too shaken on Wednesday and declined a request for an interview.
Duffus could not say what safety equipment her father and relatives had when they ventured out during the predawn hours. She noted, however, that only her father appeared to have his cellular phone with him. Those belonging to the others were left at their homes.
Lack of communication devices and other safety devices make it harder for Marine Police and the Jamaica Defence Coast Guard to locate missing fishermen, noted Dr Gavin Bellamy, CEO of the National Fisheries Authority. Bellamy said despite education initiatives, some fishermen simply fail to follow necessary safety protocols and the law, exposing themselves to danger.
“There have been too many (fishermen gone missing) to count. Those numbers depress me, so I don’t add them up most of the times,” charged Bellamy, noting that the superb partnership between the JDF Coast Guard and the Marine Police usually results in the lost fishermen being found.
“We have trained people – our extension officers – who give advice to the fishers. We also have worked with other organisations to produce the weather app, which they have access to. We have instituted a marine frequency, where you can get the weather report three times a day. We have given out life jackets, given out lanterns and lights, radios, GPS devices, and we have trained them how to use them,” said Bellamy.
“But sometimes we are very brave people in Jamaica, and we assume that nothing will happen to us,” he said, pointing to the fisherfolk who flout the law by fishing without the relevant licences and registration.
Last week, the Marine Police explained that although it was highly unlikely, the men could have drifted to another country, as Duffus hoped.
“And that’s another reason why we encourage – insist – that fishers always have their licence with them,” stressed Bellamy. “If they have the fishing licence, they present it to the state. The state will then reach out to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs ... and then all the processes will be done to repatriate them back home,” he said, adding that the JDF Coast Guard and the Marine Police move without delay whenever a report comes in.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Andre Clarke of the Marine Police said it was unusual that the three men would have gone missing in the Kingston Harbour without a trace. Most of the cases of missing fishermen come from the coastlines of Clarendon and Westmoreland, he explained, adding that the few in the Kingston areas are usually recovered quickly.
“We have been doing a lot of searching to find them. We have searched all the way back to Hellshire and into the Old Harbour Bay area. It is very [possible] that they might have drifted that side especially with the strong winds in the area,” he said.